Automobile torpedo



2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR By A ttorncys,

May 3. 1927.

w. DIETER AUTOMOBILE ToRPEDo originl Filed July 15, 1925 Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITED STATES i WILLIAM: DIETER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY..

AUTOMOBILE Tonrnno.

riginal application iled July 115,l 1925, Serial No. 43,791. Divided and this application filed September 14, 1926. ,Serial-No."135,495.

This invention relates to torpedoes of which the standard Bliss-Leavitt torpedo is an example, in which ,com ressed air from a flask or reservoir is passe at reduced pressure through a heater or so-called superheater .in which a combustible such as alcohol is burned, and into which atomized water is sprayed and the resulting mixture of combustion gases and steam is discharged through a nozzle against the buckets of a turbine by which the torpedo is driven.

The invention relates to means for controlling the speed of the torpedo. Heretofore the speed control has been accomplished by adjusting the ressure reducing valve so as to discharge t e air at greater or less working pressure. It has also been proposed to provide two or more superheaters i or lire pots and to provide valves for con- 20 trolling the flow of compressed air, fuel and water into the respective pots, admitting these to one only for low speed, or to two for higher speed; or with three pots, to all three for the highest speed.

The present invention provides for gaining a wide range of speed adjustment by a substantial duplication of the usual superheating pot and its accessories, including the reducing valve through which the air is fed i 30 to such pot. This -admits of introducing air at low pressure into the first pot,.and at high pressure into the second pot, whereby to give two sufficiently different speeds; or by simultaneously admitting to both to give a third'andhighest speed.

The invention provides also certain features of mechanism whereby to accomplish these desirable results. A

.The present application is a division of my application filed July 15, 1925, Serial N0. 43,791. 1

The preferred embodiments ofthe invention are shown fin the accompanyingA drawr ings, wherein,-" v

Figure 1 is a schematic view, being a fra ment of the mid-section ofthe torpe o shown in vertical longitudinal mid-section, with the lreducing valves, superheater pots and their accessories arranged in a single plane, so thattheir working connections maybe traced. t 1

Fig. 2 is a versch mid-sega@ through' the valveJ of Fig. 1. 4 i

Fi 3 and tvshow a Ameans ktor controlling the owof air, whereby atA launching to drive through one power system, and at any desired time after launching to drive also through the other; Fig. 3 being averticalsection of the parts concerned, and Fig. 4 being a horizontal section on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3. t

Fig. 5 is a fragmentar elevation showing certain of the parts'in ig. 1, with a lmodi fied means for accomplishing the same results as with the device of Figs. 3 and'l.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary diagram showing a modification of Fig. 5.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 herein referred to are some of the figures in my aforesaid application Serial No. 43,7 91. i

Referring first to Fig. 1, the torpedo is shown at A and a fragment of the launching tube at B. The torpedo A has the usual compressed. air flask C, from which as usual leads a compressed air conduit a that con- Veys the high pressure compressed air to the j air at reduced pressure to the inlet of the corresponding' combustion -or superheater Y pot E or E from the outlet of which conduits e e respectively lead the mixed combustion gases to two turbine nozzles fand f respectively which discharge into the buckets of a turbine wheel F. This turbine F is shown schematically as being a sin le wheel, being mounted directly on a prope 1er shaft Q; but this arrangement may be varied according to any standard or suitable construction of turbine propulsion. v

As the valve structures D D', heaters E E and their accessories are duplicated throughout, it will suiiice to describe one of these systems the corresponding parts in the other system' eing marked with the same letters with the addition of prime marks.

From the high pressure side or chamber gof either or each reducing valve is led a duct h. -Which carries hi h pressure air to spin up the gyroscope. s this has' no relation to the present invention the course `of this duct is not illustrated. A.

From the high pressure side of the reducing valve there also leads an airl duct which dividesrinto two br ches y' and m which convey high pressureair respectively to an air stop valve G and a liquid stop valve J. These Valves normally or before launching shut off the water chamber or reservoir H and the fuel chamber I from coinmunication on the one hand with the source of air at working pressure, and onthe other hand with the spray nozzles` in the heaters; the purpose and general operation of such valves isset forth in the patent to F. M. Leavitt, No. 1,022,486, dated April 9, 1912. In that patent, however, the valves are operated at working pressure or from the low pressure side of the reducing valve, whereas, I now prefer to provide for operating the valves by high pressure air from the reservoir side ofthe reducing valve. This feature, however, is not claimed in my present application, but is madethe subject of another appllcation, Serial No. 52,383, filed August 25, 1925.

In Fig. 2 the v'alve J is shown in section. The air-.pressure pipe m enters at the boty tom beneath two plungers 7, 7, above which are the stems of check valves 8, 8 which are normally pressed down to their seats by springs 9, 9. The valveJ is a double valve, one side controlling water, and the other side alcohol or other liquid fuel. When the starting valve isopened, high pressure air iows through the duct m and' lifts the plungers 7 and unseats valves 8. This establishes communication from the fuel chamber I through duct 11. to the valve, and l thence by a duct p to the fuel inlet nozzle q side of the reducing valve, and the water and fuel Vessels, so that .air at working pressure is admitted through duct k to the top of the water vessel H and through duct Z to the top of the alcohol vessel I.

By the utilizationof high pressure air for controlling the valves J and G and their counterparts J and G', these respective valves are operated with great positiveness, and for holding them closed in their dormant condition the springs 9 which seat the check valves 8l may be made stiff springs holding the valves closed positively against the possibility of leakage. As. the description proceeds it will be apparent that this positive action of the respective valves-enables the operation to be confined to one or other of the power generating systems, thereby making the apparatus selective with great certainty of action.

. -'l`he starting valve b is ofthe type which is, standard in the Bliss-Leavitt torpedoes, being a differential plunger valve normally receiving high pressure air above it (by leakage past it from the conduit a) to keep it closed until this pressure is relieved through a vent u controlled by a vent valve w operated by a launching trigger lvv through a lever w. At launching the trigger encounters an actuating stop K projecting within the launching tube, whereby the trigger is thrown back and the valve lw opened to vent the starting valve, where-- ofthe standard construction but the two are arranged to discharge into the turbine at points suitably removed from one another, say, for example, about-90 apart. While the two reducing valves might be set to deliver the air at the same, pressure, yet it is preferable and one of the advantages of-the present invention that they may be set for widely ldiiierent pressures. This setting is accomplished in the conventional way by a screw adjustment determined by means of what are called speed rings, as set forth in my Patent No. 1,131,341, dated March 9,

1915. In Fig. 1 the speed rings are shown at'y y respectively. y

' 'Assuming the pressure valves to be set for different pressures, let us assume that the pressure of D is such as vto generate iiuid* in the heater E adequate to maintain propulsive power at the rate, for example, of 80 H. P., and that the setting of the other valve c is such as to cause the generator E to discharge fluid at a rate such as to maintain propulsive energy at, for example, 1,20 H. P. With such relative adjustments thiiee powers and consequently three different speeds for the torpedo are available. For

low 'speed E alone may be used. For an4 intermediate speed E alone may be used.'

both the valves wcontrolling either or bothl the starting valves b b', so as to giveany one of the three speeds thus attainable. f

My present invention provides for the ex'- ercise of the respective powers 'in succession rather than simultaneously. For this purpose the construction shown in Figs. 3 and malI be applied. eferring to Fig. 3, the trigger lv, lever and vent valve fui are the same as the corre spondingly lettered parts in Fig. 1, and the valve w controls thev starting valve b of the valve.D and heater E.- The valve ran here shown 'in dotted lines is Aof conventional construction. In immediate proximity to it is` a second vent valve w of like construetion which is connected by a duct u to the chamber of the starting valve b. The valves 'w 'w" have each the usual plunger 6 which when elevated is locked by a bolt 7 which springs under it 'impelled by a spring 8 so as to hold the valve o en during the run of the torpedo. The va ve 'w" has the plunger 6 prolonged downwardly as a pin 9,

the lower end of which is in position to be struck by the toe 10 of acam which is'ad- Y justably connected to a wheel 11 of the rcducinv or timing gear called the distance earPof the torpedo, and which is driven m a propeller shaft Q. through a worm 13 thereon, driving a worm wheel let carried on an upright spindle 15 which has a worm 1G.

meshing with the gear-11 and also with the gear 17, which latter is connected in the usual manner to the stopping means (not shown) for closing the starting valve and shutting off air to stop the torpedo; The cam 10 is to be turned to a suitable setting before launching so as to determine the time interval between the starting of the torpedo under the power generated in the heater E alone and the opening of the vent fw" to determine the turning on of additional power through the heater E. For this purpose the cam 10 maybe frictionally connected with the gear 1l and mounted on 4a spindle 18 which may extend to the exterior of the torpedo and be provided with suitable setting means as usual with torpedoes for indi# eating the proper setting positions for any given time interval.

Before launching, the cain 10 will be set rotatively by turning the spindle 18 to correspond toy the number of yards to be run before the second power system is rendered active. At launching, the hook o is pulled and the vent rn operated to open the starting valve b and start the torpedo with the power generated by the primary heater E alone; after running the prescribed number of yards the cam 10 lifts the pin 9, opens the vent lw and thereby opens the 'starting valve b and thereby turns on the power generated in the secondary heater E; thereafter the toi-'pedo runs under the sum of both power systems until the end of its run.

Fig. 5 shows a modiedmeans for starting either the primary or-secondary power Figs. 3' and 4 a vent valve w'" is provided 65 which is connected to the starting valve b or b. I )rojecting through the hull a iin L which is connected to a cam M which-normally in the position Shown arrests a lever N connected to the plunger of the valve I0 lw" and holds it closed. Upon launching, the water on `striking the fin L throws it backward so that the toe of the ca m releases the lever N andpermits the valve to o en under stress of a spring 20. This den i vice can be used (by connecting theparts as shown in Fig. 6) in lieu of the trigger /v of Fig. 3 for starting the primary power system, leaving the secondary power system to Vbe started through a mechanism as shown in Fig. 3; or the system can be started as in ig. 3 through the action of the starting hook or trigger o and the secondary system can be started by -i primary power the action, ofthe fin L this being the ar- S5 rangement shown in Fig. 5.

It will be apparent to ythose skilled in the torpedo art that the' devices herein illustrated, which 4are the best known to ine for carrying my invention into effect, may be 90 varied or modified without departing from the Y irit of the invention as herein set forth and efined in the' appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a torpedo 'havinga compressed air 95 flask and propelling mechanism, dual power Agenerators each comprising a reducing valve, a heater, means for feeding fuel and water to the heater, and a discharge from the air to one of the power generators inl ad-v vance of the other.

2. In a torpedo according to-claim l, the

motor, with controlling means adapted to l open the starting -valves in succession, whereby to admit compressed air to one ot' the power generators in advance of the other. 4. In a torpedo according to claim 3, the controlling means having timing means for delaying the admission of compressed air to the starting valve which is later opened.

In witness whereof, I have hereunt signed my name. i

WILLIAM DIETER. Y

4heater to the propelling motor, with con- 1" trolling means adapted toadmit compressed controlling means having timing means for m5 

